Where There’s Smoke

An operator discovers the importance of keeping your cool during emergencies — in the pool and out

THE LESSONS

1. Plan alternate emergency safe zones. Most
facilities’ evacuation plans list the parking lot as the safe
point to meet after an incident. Our plan offers an alternate
location if the emergency happens there.

2. Work on crowd control. Train staff on the appropriate
way to provide crowd control. Make your trainings as realistic as
possible.

3. Make staff safety No. 1. The lifeguard’s injury
could have been prevented. The supervisor should have realized that
one tiny fire extinguisher would not extinguish a five-car fire,
and let the firefighters deal with it!

Note: If you’d like to share a story, please send it (and the
lessons you learned) to gthill@hanleywood.com.

It was a hot August day at The Cove Waterpark in Riverside, Calif.
— but it was about to get much hotter. It all started when a
family arrived and noticed a funny smell as they left their
SUV.

Shrugging off the odd odor, they piled out of the family Ford
Explorer and went through the ticket line. Wristbands, sunblock,
towels and swimsuits in hand, they exited the lobby into the
waterpark, eager to have fun.

Not long after, the mother noticed heavy black smoke emanating from
the parking lot. Instantly, she put two and two together and headed
to her SUV to do damage control.

At the same time, an alarmed lifeguard came in from the lot and
notified management of the billowing black smoke pouring out of the
vehicle. The supervisor sprang into action and went out to
investigate.

When she reached the source of the smoke, she saw a very pregnant
mom attempting to get into the SUV to remove her children’s
car seats. The supervisor convinced the crying, distraught woman to
back away from the Explorer and moved her to a safe spot.

Moments later, the hood area of the smoking vehicle burst into
flames. Still staying cool, the supervisor told one guard to get a
fire extinguisher and another to call the fire department. In her
rush, the guard with the extinguisher tried to jump over the entry
stairs to save time and injured her foot.

All of this was happening during the normal lifeguard lunch break,
so there were plenty of staff members to deal with the onslaught of
related safety issues.

Before it was all over, though, even concession staff members had
to take a hand in crowd control. Some stayed at the front door and
headed off looky-loos. Some had to restrain guests who wanted to
rush out and move their cars. Others had to direct cars that were
still entering the lot away from the increasingly dangerous
situation.

Once the supervisor finally got the extinguisher, it became
apparent the small kitchen variety they had on hand wasn’t up
to the task. Still, when she realized the fire was coming from
under the car, she actually lay halfway under the SUV to try to put
the fire out!

It wasn’t until the fire department arrived on the scene that
the flames were finally extinguished. When the smoke cleared, the
Explorer was totaled, along with five other cars, four of which
were lifeguards’ vehicles!

The front bumper on one melted to the asphalt; on another, the back
end melted like wax.